With less than five months before voters head to the polls, President Donald Trump finds himself in an uncertain position: caught between advisers urging him to calm a country in the grips of a pandemic, economic uncertainty and civil unrest and those who want him to lean into aggressive tactics that almost certainly would further inflame a nation on edge.
Trump’s reluctance so far to come down on one side — or to strike a clear balance between the opposing sets of advice — has frustrated his allies and shaded, if not slowed, his response to nationwide protests arising since the death of George Floyd.
“These aren’t my voters,” the president has said repeatedly, dismissing protesters in discussions with aides about how to respond over nearly three weeks of unrest, according to three people familiar with the comments.
